Summer Saturday - Greenmarket/Street Fair
This past week, there has been absolutely nothing redeaming about the weather: cold, wet, and just all around disgusting. So when yesterday turned out to be sunny and warm, my plans to go into the office early were postponed in favor of a trip to the Union Square Greenmarket.
As Adam and I like buying organic when possible, and we're big impulse buyers when it comes to food, a farmer's market is a lot of fun. On the first circuit around the park, we just looked at everything (food window shopping...mmm), but ended up buying some fingerling potatoes and tomatoes to cook with this week.
My favorite thing is the cheese, though. I love cheese. I'm sure this comes as a big surprise to anyone who found their way to my website url. :) The brilliance of the Greenmarket is the samples. Our first stop was the Coach Farm stand. While there's something less exciting about products that you can get from Fresh Direct, but I do so love those lactating goats. Anyway, ever since the Le Bernardin goat cheese in oil from years ago (I think I mentioned this in my Le Bernardin post?), we've been looking for something similar. We ended up with a jar of small disks (like slices from a chevre log) marinated with oil and herbs. While the cheese needs to be left out for awhile to get nicely softened, and the ideal goat-in-oil wasn't herbed, it's still delicious. We also bought a tangy, smelly blue from the Cato Corner Farm stand, which is more interesting that your run-of -the mill blue (though leave it out too long and it starts to smell up the living room).
On our way back to the apartment, ladened down with the potatoes, tomatoes, cheese, some unhomogenize milk from Ronnybrook farms, and two potted herbs (lemon thyme - great on the potatoes when we cooked them later - and purple sage), we hit the street fair on Sixth Ave. I passed on crepes, fruit smoothies, and most other standard street fair offerings, but then I saw a stand with various deep fried delicacies. Now, I can resist funnel cakes and zeppoles (and all the associated memories of "Fair Day" in high school...that's right...that one day a year that we got off from school in honor of the state fair), but they were offering me deep fried oreos. They were golden and delicious on the outside, and on the inside the cookie and cream had gotten all melty and soft. I hadn't expected that the cookie would soften, but it was delicous! Things like deep fried oreos are the reason that I cannot own a deep fryer. I would fry everything. If you can eat it, I would try it fried. Mmm...fried...
Speaking of fried deliciousness eaten outside, I highly recommend hitting up Danny Meyer's Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Apparently they have amazing burgers (I wouldn't know), but one thing I have tried is their 'Shroom Burger. Essentially, it is a portobello mushroom filled with cheese and deep fried, then put on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and shake sauce (whatever that is). The fried mushroom itself is to die for, and even the tomatoes used are surprisingly ripe and delicious for food you buy from a metal shack. I like it with an Arnold Palmer (iced tea/lemonade mix) for a refreshing drink, but their milk shakes and concretes are also very good. While I've heard raves about frozen custard over regular ice cream, I can't say that I can tell a significant difference. The custard treats are delicious but not the reason to eat here. And eat here I do, practically whenever I walk by...
As Adam and I like buying organic when possible, and we're big impulse buyers when it comes to food, a farmer's market is a lot of fun. On the first circuit around the park, we just looked at everything (food window shopping...mmm), but ended up buying some fingerling potatoes and tomatoes to cook with this week.
My favorite thing is the cheese, though. I love cheese. I'm sure this comes as a big surprise to anyone who found their way to my website url. :) The brilliance of the Greenmarket is the samples. Our first stop was the Coach Farm stand. While there's something less exciting about products that you can get from Fresh Direct, but I do so love those lactating goats. Anyway, ever since the Le Bernardin goat cheese in oil from years ago (I think I mentioned this in my Le Bernardin post?), we've been looking for something similar. We ended up with a jar of small disks (like slices from a chevre log) marinated with oil and herbs. While the cheese needs to be left out for awhile to get nicely softened, and the ideal goat-in-oil wasn't herbed, it's still delicious. We also bought a tangy, smelly blue from the Cato Corner Farm stand, which is more interesting that your run-of -the mill blue (though leave it out too long and it starts to smell up the living room).
On our way back to the apartment, ladened down with the potatoes, tomatoes, cheese, some unhomogenize milk from Ronnybrook farms, and two potted herbs (lemon thyme - great on the potatoes when we cooked them later - and purple sage), we hit the street fair on Sixth Ave. I passed on crepes, fruit smoothies, and most other standard street fair offerings, but then I saw a stand with various deep fried delicacies. Now, I can resist funnel cakes and zeppoles (and all the associated memories of "Fair Day" in high school...that's right...that one day a year that we got off from school in honor of the state fair), but they were offering me deep fried oreos. They were golden and delicious on the outside, and on the inside the cookie and cream had gotten all melty and soft. I hadn't expected that the cookie would soften, but it was delicous! Things like deep fried oreos are the reason that I cannot own a deep fryer. I would fry everything. If you can eat it, I would try it fried. Mmm...fried...
Speaking of fried deliciousness eaten outside, I highly recommend hitting up Danny Meyer's Shake Shack in Madison Square Park. Apparently they have amazing burgers (I wouldn't know), but one thing I have tried is their 'Shroom Burger. Essentially, it is a portobello mushroom filled with cheese and deep fried, then put on a bun with lettuce, tomato, and shake sauce (whatever that is). The fried mushroom itself is to die for, and even the tomatoes used are surprisingly ripe and delicious for food you buy from a metal shack. I like it with an Arnold Palmer (iced tea/lemonade mix) for a refreshing drink, but their milk shakes and concretes are also very good. While I've heard raves about frozen custard over regular ice cream, I can't say that I can tell a significant difference. The custard treats are delicious but not the reason to eat here. And eat here I do, practically whenever I walk by...
posted by JCA at 12:58 PM
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